The Big Ideas Project: One Month Later

PCCC's Top Ten Highlights of 2014

Debt-free college means all students in America should be able graduate without debt. This big idea would expand economic opportunity, expand America's economy, and improve quality of life for millions of people. Debt-free college is a result that can be achieved through multiple means.

Below is a checklist that Demos and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee will use to judge any plan by presidential candidates or Congress.

A true debt-free college plan should affirmatively check all of these boxes:

Do all undergraduate students have access to debt-free college?

Does debt-free college apply to all undergraduate public institutions?

Does debt-free college apply to all college costs, not just tuition?

Does the “debt-free college” plan facilitate all students having equal access to high-quality public education -- i.e. incentivizing investment in instruction and student support services.

Does the formula used to calculate "debt-free" avoid academic hardship for students and economic hardship for everyday families? (i.e. Low-income students are not forced to hurt their academic performance by working excessive hours while wealthier students study. Middle-class families are not assumed to have savings and disposable cash they do not truly have.)

Is aid distributed progressively -- investing most in those who may not attend or complete college, or not maximize their participation in the economy after college, due to student debt?

"The phrase 'debt-free college' was hardly present in the national political lexicon until the Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched a campaign in January to push Democrats to support the idea."

The more public support presidential candidates see for big ideas, the more they will make them central to their campaigns.

After hearing from thousands of members across the nation, today the PCCC is kicking off a grassroots campaign to ensure every presidential candidate knows: Americans are ready for boldness.

It starts with a big announcement.

Over 200 leaders in the highly coveted first presidential primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire are joining the PCCC on a statement saying, "Presidential candidates must campaign on big, bold, economic populist ideas" like debt-free college, expanding Social Security benefits, reforming Wall Street, campaign finance reform, clean-energy jobs, and more pay for workers.

Signers include Iowa's longtime U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, members of Congress, dozens of state legislators, union presidents, and other progressives.

It’s official -- Donna Edwards is in! Thousands of PCCC and Democracy for America members across the nation urged Donna to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland, and she heard us loud and clear!

Donna sent PCCC a note this morning: "Thank you to all the PCCC and DFA members who urged me to run. You showed me the type of grassroots support I can count on. I'm in! Together, we will make this a people-powered campaign about bold progressive issues."

Donna Edwards has proven time and again that she's a bold progressive. She's not just an ally -- she's one of us.

Donna started as a community activist. Then, she was a founder of a progressive nonprofit. In Congress, she's devoted her time to taking on powerful interests -- even defeating an entrenched Wall Street Democrat to win her seat.

Donna was the first member of Congress to introduce an amendment to overturn Citizens United. She led the National Network to End Domestic Violence. And Donna agrees with Senator Elizabeth Warren that we should expand Social Security benefits -- never cut them.

A month ago the Progressive Change Institute (PCCC’s C3 sister organization) launched the Big Ideas Project at ThinkBig.US -- a crowd-sourced platform allowing the public to submit and vote on big ideas they believe progressives should champion in 2015 and 2016.

The top 20 ideas that rise to the top will be seriously considered by over 30 members of Congress, including Senators Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Jon Tester and Representatives Raul Grijalva, Keith Ellison, Alan Grayson, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Ruben Gallego, and more.

The PCCC will even be polling ideas pulled from the project in battleground states.

1. Progressive Victories Everywhere:

The PCCC enter the new Congress with more partners than ever. Bold progressives won early primaries against corporate Democrats -- electing Senator Brian Schatz in Hawaii, and Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman in New Jersey, Ruben Gallego in Arizona, and Ted Lieu and Mike Honda in California. These bright-blue districts will be represented by real progressives! And PCCC members helped elect great progressives to the Senate and House in November. (Read the full 2014 Elections Report.)

2. PCCC Members Called Out The Vote:

Thousands of national volunteers signed up to Call Out The Vote (COTV). Together, they made over 4 million phone calls to voters in key races. The PCCC was the only national call program of this scale that worked directly with campaigns -- so they could use the data the PCCC collected, making the work twice as effective. These calls helped key progressive champions like Al Franken and Jeff Merkley win re-election to the Senate -- and helped Rep. Rick Nolan in Minnesota win one of the tightest House elections.

A demonstration of about 120 people gathered outside Citigroup's headquarters in midtown Manhattan to amplify Elizabeth Warren's message that it's time to break up the big banks, including PCCC members, Working Families Party, former New York gubernatorial candidate and reformer Zephyr Teachout, New York Communities for Change, Citizen Action New York, American Family Voices, and other progressive allies. On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Pres. Obama signed a law written by Citigroup that repealed a major piece of Wall Street reform, resulting in risky derivatives bets now being insured by taxpayers. Elizabeth Warren shined a national spotlight on this issue from the Senate floor:

"There’s a lot of talk coming from Citigroup about how the Dodd-Frank Act isn’t perfect. So let me say this to anyone who is listening at Citi: I agree with you. Dodd-Frank isn’t perfect. It should have broken you into pieces." -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

Elizabeth Warren

Al Franken

Senator Al Franken is one of Elizabeth Warren's top allies in the Senate -- and a bold voice on overturning Citizens United, reforming Wall Street, protecting Net Neutrality, and making big corporations and millionaires pay their fair share.

Ruben Gallego

Ruben is an Iraq veteran, state legislator, and a young activist who has worked to increase the number of Latino voters and led fights for worker rights, immigration reform, marijuana legalization, and marriage equality.

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Paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (BoldProgressives.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions to the PCCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.